Dawn Raid: Volvo V60 T6 R-Design Polestar
4.28am. That’s the time the alarm was set to go off. But it didn’t get a chance to, because at 4.24 I awoke and by 4.25 I was out of bed and getting dressed. Even my alarm clock gets a day off on a Sunday.
Funny how during the week, the alarm is greeted with a swift smack on the snooze button as I savour every second in bed. But with the thought of a Dawn Raid ahead of me, things are different. By 5am, I was in the car and heading for the Shell garage at Sourton Down. As the highest point on the A30, I thought it would make a suitable point for the start of my pre-breakfast challenge. Read more 
Take your seats: Volvo V60 T6 Polestar
I’ve never taken an electronics shop for a hot lap of the Nurburgring, but if I did, I have a feeling it would be much like my recent experience in the Volvo V60 T6 Polestar. Not only is the car loaded with technical gadgetry and wizardry, but it’s also a bit rapid.
The headline figures say it all. A 6-cylinder 3.0 litre engine, 329bhp and a top speed limited to 155mph, so there’s no doubting the performance. But to borrow a phrase from a well known tyre company, this power would be nothing without control, so it’s just as well that the T6 comes with a Haldex all-wheel drive system. Without it, the V60 T6 would either be torque steering for the next decade or planted firmly in a hedge. There’s only one word that can be used to describe the power and that’s ‘brutal’.
Guests may want to take sea sickness tablets
As a fledging automotive writer, I haven’t been to many car launches, but I suspect that advising invitees to take a sea sickness tablet doesn’t happen all that often. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a car’s ride and handling, is it? But on the night before I crossed the Solent in a Volvo Ocean Race yacht, all became clear. Read more
Economy drive? Volvo S60 DRIVe SE
On the face of it, there’s much to admire about the Volvo S60 DRIVe SE. The level of quality is exceptional, the standard of safety is astonishing and on paper at least, the economy credentials are eye catching. Having given the C30 T5 Polestar a glowing reference, I was keen to see if the brilliance could be carried into the rest of the range, so where better place to start than Volvo’s 3-series and Mondeo rival, the S60? Read more
Up the hill in the Volvo C30 Polestar
Just after lunch on Friday 1st July 2011, my motoring year may have just peaked. At a little after 2pm I was treated to a passenger ride in what is probably one of my favourite concept cars of all time, the Volvo C30 Polestar. That’s right, the 405 bhp, all-wheel-drive, fire breathing monster that’s unlikely to ever make it into production. What’s more, the ride took place on the fabled Goodwood hill at the Festival of Speed 2011. I can summarise the whole experience in one four letter word – epic. Read more
Bangerwatch: Volvo 480
You’ve seen Springwatch, you may have even seen Autumnwatch, but now PetrolBlog introduces Bangerwatch. It many ways it is much the same as the TV show, only without Kate Humble, animals or a primetime slot on BBC television. The idea is simple, PetrolBlog will hunt down interesting and increasingly rare cars that have somehow fallen into Banger territory. By giving them some exposure it is hoped that they will be considered as potential Bangernomics project cars and in some cases, saved from inevitable extinction. There are no hard and fast rules over what constitutes a Banger, but a price of sub £1k is probably a good place to start.
To kick things off, PetrolBlog looks at the Volvo 480, influenced in part by the recent test of the C30 T5 Polestar.
First impressions: Volvo S60 DRIVe SE
This week I’ll be spending some in the company of the Volvo S60 DRIVe. You may have noticed that I recently took a shine to the C30 T5, so it was only natural that I’d want to check out the rest of the Volvo range. But rather than opt for another hot Volvo, I thought I’d give one of the more frugal models a run out. After all, we are still living in an age of austerity. Read more
Safe sex: Volvo C30 T5 R-Design Polestar
The C30 is Volvo’s attempt at reaching out to a younger audience and winning a few conquest customers. Based on the S40, it is available solely in a 3-door, 4-seat configuration and having been launched in the latter stages of 2006, it is somewhat of a familiar sight on British roads. Having Ford’s C1 platform means it should be dynamically sound and as you’d expect, safety is a key part of the C30′s make-up.
This review follows a week driving the cooking T5 R-Design with Polestar upgrade, a model that shares the same 2.5 litre 5-cylinder engine as the previous generation Focus ST, so I had high hopes for this car. But does it make for a viable alternative to the BMW 1-series or Audi A3? Read more
